The global halal economy is evaluated around $3 trillion in 2024 and is projected to hit from $5 to $7 trillion by 2030.

Our country, Malaysia is a global leader in the halal economy, contributing to 7.4% of our GDP in 2022, which is equivalent to $24.2 billion USD.

With Malaysia consistently ranking #1 in the Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) for 10 consecutive years, with leadership in halal F&B, halal cosmetics, Islamic Finance, and travel, it is undoubtedly that we are THE global leader in the halal economy.

The NEP is often criticized by our non Muslim counterparts in Malaysia for favoring bumiputera businesses these last few decades, but they can’t deny it’s impact in uplifting a huge portion of Malays out of poverty and into the middle class, addressing the wealth gap engineered by the Western colonial powers in order to control the Malays.

Our next step is to address the ethnic division concocted through vernacular schools and the language diaspora that comes with it.

The vernacular school system has created racial divisions between our people.

This symptom is especially prevalent within the Chinese community with a significant porpotion of them are unable to integrate with the Malay community due to language barriers, and led to the “Mandarin Speakers Only” job requirements despite the company having nothing to do with dealing, or having only minimal engagement with China.

We will need to address this by reforming our educational system.

Malaysians must no longer be siloed into different language groups, Bahasa Melayu must be the main medium of communication between Malaysians, be it in the workplace or everyday interaction, as guided by our federal constitution’s article 152.

But this does not mean we completely eliminate the study and use of other ethnic languages, but instead, they should be provided as electives in our national school system.

Multiculturalism is what makes Malaysia unique, and we must help to preserve the culture of our non Malay friends, provided they must also be willing to respect article 153 of the federal constitution.

Once this issue is addressed, we can work to formulate a more inclusive NEP, with the halal economy as our main focus while collaborating with our non Malay friends who have experties in manufacturing, logistics, legal advice and their vast business network, to mutually prosper and elavate the halal industry to new heights under Malay-Muslim leadership.

I urge Malaysians who values true unity and friendship between our ethnic communities to take their time and seriously consider this proposal.

JAUHARI JOHAR
18th May 2025